There seems to be but one constant in NASCAR these days — Jimmie Johnson.

While the El Cajon native has been winning an unprecedented five straight championships, NASCAR has been going through constant change in an effort to stem its substantial losses in attendance — at the tracks and in front of the television — and, well, to stop Johnson.

NASCAR has not officially said it wants someone to beat Johnson, but it’s pretty obvious that the stock car organization would love to see Johnson’s run stopped. There is even talk inside the organization that NASCAR should scrub the Chase for the Championship playoff that Johnson has dominated since it came into play in 2004.

The only problem is that NASCAR’s brass doesn’t like to admit mistakes, though it will alter what has worked for years.

Three years ago NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow that has turned off fans because a Ford looks like a Chevy looks like a Toyota. Then NASCAR changed the starting time of most of its races going for prime time coverage in the East. Now it’s changed the scoring system and is looking to shorten many of its future races to placate its TV partners.

Even NASCAR Chairman Brian France admits it’s not all blue skies for the sport that has been in a tailspin since it peaked less than a decade ago.

“Every sport is going to have periods where you’re in a peak or a valley,” France said recently. “That’s fine. But we are on course to deliver the most exciting racing in the world and we’re going to get there.”

“We know we have issues to address,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton, who this year also moved to have drivers limit themselves to compete for one title a season.

The biggest issue is stopping Johnson, who has moved to within striking distance of NASCAR’s most coveted record in five short seasons. Only the gods of stock car racing, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, have more season championships than Johnson. They both have seven. As his current rate of success, Johnson ties that mark in 2012.

The problem is, no one driver has positioned himself to be Johnson’s archrival. One of the strengths of NASCAR has always been its great rivalries — Petty vs. David Pearson, Cale Yarborough vs. the Allison brothers, Earnhardt vs. Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon vs. Earnhardt.

During his five-year run, no rival has twice finished second. Last fall, Denny Hamlin all but had Johnson’s streak stopped and collapsed. During Johnson’s run, only teammate Gordon and Hamlin have two top-three finishes in the final standings.

Sadly, 2011 could be a ho-hum season. Even with a new scoring system, the races in the Chase strongly favor Johnson. He couldn’t handpick 10 better tracks.

Top teams of 2011:

Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet): The combination of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus is as good as it comes — the best driver, the best crew chief, the best organization. But the bigger team is no longer the dominant force it was. Gordon’s fourth title came in the pre-Chase year of 2001. Mark Martin slipped last year at age 51. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seemed lost since the arrival of the COT. The season opens with Johnson’s being the only team intact from 2010. The mystery is why Johnson is so much better than the rest of the team.